SHARING THE LOVE OF LEARNING

In September of 2018, Dominic would have started kindergarten. His naturally curious nature meant he was truly looking forward to starting school. After his passing, we decided to ask that backpacks and school supplies be donated in his memory. We hoped sharing Dominic’s love of learning would inspire others to help give children in our community the items they needed to start the school year. We never could have imagined the outpouring of support – more than 200 backpacks and hundreds of other supplies were donated. Each backpack held a note of inspiration and a photo of Dominic, so that the children receiving the backpacks would know they were donated in his memory. We hoped these messages would encourage the children to share the same excitement Dominic had for school.

In coordination with the Madison Police Department, we were able to hold a special giveaway to distribute the donations at a new residential unit that provides housing to chronically homeless families. Additionally, the event gave these families the chance to complete their school registration needs. During the giveaway, the police held a cookout and families were able to meet local officers and teachers, as well as our own family. You can read more about our collaboration on the MPD blog.

As we continue to share Dominic’s ripple, we are looking forward to putting together this event on a yearly basis, so that children in our community can have the opportunity to share in the love of education that Dominic enjoyed. We know this school supply giveaway, along with our other causes, are examples of Dominic continuing to make a positive impact on so many lives.